The rising dragon slayer
by Kuro-chan01
Summary: What if natsu never joined Fairy tail and ends up founded by a dark guild.During a mission he mets Fairy tails strongest team,Erza,Gray,Lucy and ends up getting captured by them.He lived in the darkness all his life will he finally live in the light(sorry for bad summary)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys,this is my first fanfic ever. I hope you guys like it. Plz review**

 **I don't own fairy tails or the characters. I only own the idea**

New Note: **HEY GUYS. I just wanna note that I've rewritten this chapter to have more content and just to be less...bad. Anyways I planning to do this with the rest of the chapters already published, so yea. Anyways I hope u enjoy and plz comment your thoughts about this chapter XD**

* * *

Fluffy clouds dotted around the horizon where the clear sky meets the blue, calm sea. Fishing boats swarmed along the coast of the beach, illuminating rays of colour reflected on every seashell, and grain of sand.

The market bustling with different and unique window shops, sprawled around the centre square of Hargeon, accompanied with lively chit-chatter amongst the towns people. The whole area ecstatic with smells of sea-fish and cooked pastry's.

Beautiful bricked,terraces where to be seen all around the port city, accompanied by the colourful stony pavements, portraying the beauty of the town and its people . Such a lively place.

Hargeon, the largest port city of all of Fiore. Known for its excellent cuisine of seafood, fishing and seafaring the town is known to be one of the most largely populated cities in all of Fiore. Due to their expertise and success for fishing, magic is less considered or used there, with only 10% of population are magic users.

But due to the lack of magical protection, the town is homed to one of the most notorious dark guilds, Pandora's gate.

Even with their guild causing destruction in their wake more than occasionally, the town continued to flourished and never submitted to the guild in fear. How rare this was to see while it lasted.

 **At Hargeons station**

"Eh sir, are you okay?"

The conductor looked at the pink haired boy in worry as the his whole body leaned out of the window, dead to the world and only hears a groan in response. He hesitantly lifts up his head looking out to the station and town, trying to will the world to stop spinning.

"Sir?", the conductor asks again.

He carefully watches the teen,-or at least he thought he was a teen- slowly staggered onto his feet, his feet slightly swaying at the action.

He continues to watch as the boy raises his gaze to for just a second, before walking past him, reaching for the nearest exit of the train, not once uttering a word.

The boy wore a sleeveless black top two red lightning-like pattern on the front of his top, along with a short sleeved crimson jacket that had an unusual pattern on the arms. Which of course were accompanied with baggy beige pants that were barely hanging onto his hip, with only a brown belt as support, with two small brown sachets attached to it.

His worn out black high combat boots clanked heavily against the rocky pavement as he groggily walked out of the train, his white scaled scarf slung around his neck.

"Ugh" he groans to himself. He is never riding a train again. Of course, he has said this before but he is completely serious now. Especially when he just spent 6 hours on that evil metal monster they call a train. He'd rather walk all the way back to Hargeon than ever riding on that death trap again. But he knows he would have to in the near future.

Stupid Motion sickness. Always in the way.

He staggers and stumbles his way through the streets, earning him a few worried glances from people passing by he knew were more staring at his... _unique_ appearance

As he strolls past each market stall the smell of fish and warm and delicious cooked pastries wafted and overwhelms his senses. His stomach gurgles and groans . God he was so hungry. Why was even here? Then its clicked. Serid wanted to see him about a new mission.

Suddenly a thought entered his brain and he looks up to the large clock tower in the centre of the town.

Oh no

He's late.

Serid is going to _kill_ him.

At that thought alone, lead him into a full on sprint, passing through the crowds of people that were walking by. The swivelled around each person passing by, but not without the occasional bumps on the shoulder. Concentrating on his path, he didn't expect the young blonde teen to walk in front of him . Before he could even think of stopping, he loses his footing and ends colliding at her, causing them to both crash to the ground, sprawled against the pavement.

He groans as as he lifts up is head to see the blonde girl from earlier sprawled on the ground, her palm nursing the side of her head. He watches as she slowly raises herself into a sitting position, still sitting on the dusty floor and hears her mutter a small "Ow". Her blue skirt ,crinkled from the collision, lay beside the mess of her stuff all over the pavement.

She slowly raise her gaze and seems to finally notice his yelps in surprise. Suddenly shes on her feet again and starts to ramble out an apology.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" she asks, offering a hand of help.

"No, No, I'm fine" he replies, ignoring the stretched out hand as he stands up. Hesitantly her stretched out hand drops back to her side.

"That's good" she sighs in relief. She smiles gently, hoping to get one in return. He doesn't.

"Oh I'm Lucy by the way" she retrieves her once stretched out hand for a handshake, a smile still gracing her lips. Shit. She was waiting for him to give his name.

Whats he going to do

 _Lie_

 _"_ I'm _-"_ he starts but was cut of by the large dinging of the clock tower bell, slowly chiming in sync with his heart beat.

"I have to go" he mutters as he runs passed her, ignoring her yelp of surprise, sprinting down through the crowd of people.

"What a strange guy.." Lucy mumbles.

She lowers her gaze to the ground, realising her stuff still lay on the dusty pavement. Kneeling down she grabs her celestial keys ( _God, Aquarius is gonna kill her for dropping them...again_ ) and her new book she bought for Wendy. She saw this little novel in on of the market stalls and couldn't help but think of Wendy and before she knew it the books was in her hands, paid and now hers. She just hopes Wendy will like it.

"Oy Lucy what are you doing?"

Lucy turns around to see a raven-haired teen walking towards her, his hands resting in this black pocket jeans. Lucy smiles and gives him a small wave as a greeting.

"Oh Gray, sorry I got distracted" said Lucy. "I met the strangest guy.." she mumbles, more to herself as she gazes at where she saw said guy ran too only seconds ago. Gray raises an eyebrow and, slowly, a sly grin graced his lips. "oh?" Lucy blushed and punched him in the arm. "I didn't mean like that idiot!" she pouts when Gray continues to laugh

"I know, I was just winding you up. Anyways we should head back. We don't want to Erza angry from waiting too long".

They both shiver at the thought.

"Yea we should go " she agreed

* * *

 **At the outskirts of Hargeon,**

Natsu looked up as he stood in front of the Pandora Gate gateway. A soft breeze shook the old rusty gates, creaking from every movement it made. He sighed as he pushed the gate open, which caused it to make a loud screeching sound, and slowly walked towards the entrance.

Once he reaches towards the door, he takes a moment before sliding the door open with his palm. He could here the roars of laughter and lively chatter sudden transform into eerie silence. He cant help but a cold smirk grace his lips when he smells the scents of respect and _fear._

This was nothing new of course. After all, he is the most powerful wizard in this guild, of course they revered and fear him. As he strolls through the main hall, talk of him circled around his fellow guild members. One word always caught his attention.

Salamander

Natsu cant help but grin.

Due to his notorious immense of fire magic and his status in the guild, he had grown a reputation that even caught the magic council attention, earning him a code name, since no one ever knows his true name. That code name was "Salamander". And now every everyone shakes in sheer terror from that name alone.

As he passed by his fellow guild member, he noticed and hear some whispering among the others about challenging him but as soon as he was in human earshot, they would just shrivel up and cower in fear.

Hmph

 _Cowards_

Natsu ignore the glares and sneers that he feels behind him and continue walking toward the door that lead out of the main hall. Once he left the room, he heard the earlier chatter start once again.

He continued down the hallway and he couldn't help but note the quiet and eeriness of the hall, So quiet You couldn't even hear the slight breeze outside. the only sound he could hear was his breaths and the soft thumps of his boots against the cobble stone floor. The lanterns that hung of the stony wall, dimly lit the hallway, only making the whole place slightly more eerie.

When he finally reached the end of the hallway, he paused for a moment before taking a step and lightly knocking on the wooden door. He hears a soft mutter of "Enter" and slowly takes a deep breath before opening the door and taking in a step inside.

The room was very well cared for and well furnished compared to the other rooms in the guild. Bookshelves surrounding the large, spacious room , each filled with an array of different types of books, most of them about the dark art, some just normal fictional book and wizard biographies.

The room was dimly lit, the only source of light was the flames that licked outside of the fireplace in the far back wall of the room. Across the fireplace was a large vintage wooden desk and a vintage wine chair behind it. And in the armchair was a young middle age man reading at what Natsu presumed was a letter or scroll of sorts, intently, carefully reading over every word carefully. His combed back white hair cover his stern and cold face as he continued to read, his thumb tracing over the paper. He sat there in his long, black v-necked shirt, with a red robe-like jacket that reached to his knees. He wore baggy black trouser and and black combat boots.

Serid, the guild master of Pandora's Gate. Known for his immense knowledge of the dark art, he earned himself the title of one of the most powerful dark art mages in all of the dark guilds.

"Master, you wanted to see me" he asked, his tone polite and all the more formal. The guild master finally looks up, away from his scroll, his crimson eyes meeting evergreen ones.

"Ah Natsu. About time you showed up" he says, his voice low and gruff as he places the scroll down on the desk. Natsu cant help but slightly flinch at hearing his name. No one know in the guild knows his true name except the master. He hates it. It gives him insight to a part of him no one knows about. But it was part of their deal. A requirement for him to tell his true name in order to join the guild.

"You do realise you're late" he asks rhetorically, his face stern, not giving anything away.

Natsu gives a slight bow. "My apologies Master, but I had ran into a small but brief...complication" he answers. Natsu straightens back up and sees a slight twitch on his lips, as though he was on the brink of smiling.

"Well no matter" he brushes it off, the small twitch from his mouth disappearing.

"Now to why I called you here" he starts, pausing temporarily gesturing Natsu to take a seat, which he does without hesitation.

"Natsu, have you ever heard of the Reas Family?"he asks.

"If I'm not mistaken, they are one of the most powerful and influential dukes in all of Fiore. Direct descendent of the Fiore royal bloodline. They are also known for the their amazing creation and production of magic item, earning them a great name in the magical industry" he replies

"Correct. Now to the assignment at hand" he starts. Natsu nods, waiting for the master to continue.

"The Reas are coming to Magnolia for this years Spring Solstice Festival. Our clients wants you to infiltrate them on their journey to the festival. You will kidnap the dukes only daughter, Diane Reas. You will then take her to the co-ordinate I will give to you later. There You will meet ur client and you will hand her over to them. Understood?" he asks.

"What will the client give us in return" Natsu ask. He doesn't want do a job if he doesn't get anything in return. Masters request or not.

"The three of you will receive at least 25,000 each and in return for the completion of this mission, our client will give access to his facilities and... _products_ " he states, cryptic as usual. Hold on. Did he say three?

"Three of us?"

Serid raise his eyebrow in amusement." Did you think this was a solo mission? No, I'm afraid not boy. To insure there are no mess ups, I've assigned two other members of the guild to work along side you on this mission" he relays to him.

"Now I want your team to leave in o 2 hours. But I'm assuming you have more questions?" he asked stern but ultimately bemused.

"May i ask what the client wants with the girl?" he asks, never once losing his composure by his master attitude.

"Our client runs a underground black market, specifically in selling humans" he starts, a cold malicioussmile of respect gracing his lips.

"A simple common folk human, he could get a heavily amount of jewels but for a duchess, that would be an absolute goldmine. But this is more of a simple business transaction for the greater good. An alliance of sorts" he explains, cold and emotionless about the subject at hand.

Natsu just simply nods, as though this was just basic knowledge.

"What about Happy? Will he be accompanying me on this mission?" he inquires.

Happy was his one and only companion. Someone he would really consider as a friend. When he spent his first year here, he was training out in the guilds training ground, practising his fighting skills. After spending a whole afternoon training, he sat against one of the wooden training dummy's for a few moments but just about when he was going to continue training, he heard a soft rustle in the longs grass in front of him, one he wouldn't have heard if not for his heightened senses.

Cautiously, he stepped toward the long grass and moved the grass to see an enormous egg in front of him, Blue claw like markings graced its white shell. He slowly reached out towards it, curious but pauses when he sees it vibrate violently, slight creaking sounds heard.

And before he knew it, the shell of the egg began to crack open and he saw a small blue cat with wings of a dove pop up from the wreckage of the egg. He decide to take care of him and named him Happy and they've been inseparable ever since.

He occasionally brings Happy with him on some mission, at least the more light heartened and easier one. Never even consider on bringing him to the more... _darker_ kinds of mission. He didn't want Happy to have deal with the... _requirements_ that comes with mission.

"No "the master says. "He will stay here at the guild".

"I understand" Natsu replies.

He sits up and bows before reaching for the door but pauses when he hears his master voice.

"I need your very best on this mission Natsu. And don't cause any unnecessary complications. Failure is not an option. Or the consequences will be severe. Strongest mage here or not."

Natsu doesn't even bother to look at him as replies.

"Yes Master", and he leaves the room.

As soon as he left the room, he couldn't hep but a smirk creep onto his face. He chuckle darkly to himself. ' _Things are getting intresting'_

 **Hey guys,how was it?was it good?was it bad?This was my first ever fanfic so.. Comment and tell me what you thought**  
 **-Kurochan1**


	2. Chapter 2

Gray can't help but let out a long winded yawn as the team walked through the streets of Magnolia, the place filled with the lively chit chatter of the towns people.

Magnolia, the largest city in all of Fiore, Hargeon coming in to a close second. Unlike Hargeon, this town was known for its amazing magical knowledge and magical item. Magnolia has a population of 60,000 towns people, and is a merchant city that has been prosperous in Magic since the ancient era. Not only that but in their town resides the strongest guild in Fiore, Fairy Tail.

Thankfully due to the residence of the Fairy Tail guild, the town has many lived in harmony, with little to no attacks or raids. That is, until recently of course. But even so, the town remained in peace with the guild and their recent battle, no matter what damage they caused to the town.

" Im so glad we finished that mission" Gray exclaims, as he stretches out his arms towards the sky, his body stiff from how physically exerting their mission was.

 **Twitch**

"Indeed we have done quite well on that mission. Best yet" Erza agreed, her face filled with sheer satisfaction.

 **Twitch**

"We all deserve some good earned rest " Erza continues .

 **TWITCH**

 **TWITCH**

'Thats it!' she thought to herself.

"You thought that went well!" she exclaims in disbelief. "We destroyed half a village just catch a phantom! One little guy. And you call that success!" She retorts in anger, her hand flailing in sheer rage. Gray gulps in fear. They were screwed. Once Lucy is angry, she could as scary as Erza.

And shes _really_ mad.

"WE DIDN'T EVEN GET PAID! HECK WE HAD TO PAY _THEM_ BACK FOR ALL THE COLLATERAL DAMAGE!" she rages, giving them both glare filled with such frustration and uncontrollable rage.

"So tell me, How in hell was that freaking successful!" She screams in disbelief.

How this even happen? She was just planning to go on solo mission so she would have enough money to pay for her rent next month, when all of a sudden, Erza stated they were going to "accompany" her and "help" her. She didn't mind of course...at first. It was such a small job, she didn't at all expect there to be a disaster. It was just catching a simple phantom thief for 12,000 jewels. How hard could it be?

Oh how wrong she was

Erza and Gray ended up tag teaming and _accidentally_ ended up destroying half of buildings in the town, trying to catch him. They also ended up knocking out the town mayor and broke his arm from the falling rubble of the wreaked buildings. So in order to not go to jail and to fix the wreckage, they had to each give 20,00 jewel each. Just thinking about all the jewels they had to give the town folks made her groan in self pity.

Not only had they get no reward money, they came back with _less_ money then they did when they left.

Lucy cant help but groan at that thought.

How was she going to pay her rent now?

"Chill Lucy, It's not like we tried the town or anything" Gray implies. Lucy can't help but flail her arms up into the air.

" Exactly!"

She jabs her finger into his chest. " Thanks to you two for not knowing when to _control_ yourselves and _destroying_ half of that town. We wouldn't have had to pay or even be in this mess. And now I have more rent money to worry about!" She roars in anger, still forcibly jabbing her finger into Grays chest that, he begins to slightly wince at the force of it.

Gray looks down in guilt. "I'm sorry, Lucy" He uttered sadly, obviously regretting what he's done

Lucy couldn't help but feel a tinge of regret for shouting at them, Sure it was kinda their fault, but it was like they did it intentionally. They were only trying to help.

She sighs and feels Erza lay her hand against her shoulder. " Whats done is done" She spoke softly, her eyes compassionate and apologetic.

"Here, How about go on another mission to help pay your rent. And we promise to do do our best to hold back and be on our best behaviour" she suggest, a small smile gracing her face.

"How does that sound?"

Lucy can't help but smile back and nods. She could never stay mad at them for long. Their her friends after all.

"Yeah ok" she resigns. She couldn't help but chuckle as she watches Gray revert back to his cheery and cool self ( A/N yes i just punned)

Ever since she joined Fairy Tail, everyday has become an adventure. Even when times where tough, like the Lullaby flute incident, Battle against Phantom guild, Tower of Heaven, Nirvana and many more , they were still some of the best times of her life. Through thick and thin, Fairy tail has always been by her side, always there for her. It became her family and home. She has made such amazing friends here. Had exciting adventures and made wonderful and unforgettable memories.

Even when they found out about her heritage, they still treated her as Lucy, not 'Heartfilia'. They never gave up on her and treat her just like a real family would. She cant help but sometimes think of what her life would've been like if she hadn't have meet Gray and Erza that time in Hargeon, long ago. But somehow she always felt that it didn't matter cause this, _this_ is her home. This is where she belonged.

She wouldn't rather be anywhere else but here.

So caught up in her own thoughts, she didn't realise that they had reached the entrance to Fairy Tail guild, until Erza stepped forward and rested her hand against the surface of the door, pushing in it open. When they stepped inside, they were filled with loud chatter and laughter all around.

Everyone was sitting down in the main hall, every member laughing in room surrounded with the echoes of drunk singing from the drunk member present. Merry chatter and lively shouting could be heard throughout the entire hall. Small rowdy but playful fights occurring in the back of the the room. The atmosphere so light and open, just like when Lucy entered the guild for the first time.

Lucy cant help but smile

Some things will never change, she guessed

"Hey we're back!" Gray shouted through the large loud crowds of chatter.

Everyone turned there heads towards the entrance, hearing the door opening and shouted back a warm filling greetings.

Lucy watches as Erza looks around the whole hall. "Wheres the Master?" she asks, the question not directed to anyone specifically.

"Welcome home guys" A soft familiar feminine voices calls out to them. They turned to see a beautiful ivory haired woman, her sleeveless, ankle-length maroon dress with a pleated skirt swayed against the floor. Her large pink bow adorned on the front of her dress. She was holding a tray filled empty wooden mugs, A small wash cloth nestled between them.

Mirajane Strauss, also known as Mira for short. Known as the "She devil", she is one of Fairy Tails most powerful wizard and one of three S class wizards here. But even with her immense magic strength and agility, she is known for her kind and sweet nature, always kind to those around her, even with her enemies (that is until one of them threatens to hurt her family and Fairy Tail. Then you'd better Run).

She smiles gently as she places the tray down on the nearest table and collects more empty mugs and plates.

"Thanks Mira" She replies before making her way towards the bar, the rest of the team following suit.

Lucy and Gray can't help but sweat drop. That's Erza just being Erza they guess.

Lucy and Gray strolled behind her as they finally entered the core of the crowd, right in front of the bar stand.

They watched both amused and sweat drop at the sight before the. Both Cana and Makarov were siting aside one of another, a large scattered of empty mugs sprawled across the wooden floor and table tops. They were drowning down another cup of beer, taking large gulps. When they were finished, they simultaneously banged the now empty mug against the bar counter, their faces flushed red.

"Well you've never been up against me! Ill show you what the best drinker is" Makarov wittily replies, gesturing to Mira for another round.

Max is between the both and magic pen in hand as he marks down the scores. "Dual! You guys have both reached the match limit. 75 Drinks!" he shouts. Everyone groans in retort.

"What that's not fair! No one has won yet. You cant do that!" Cana shouts at him, a new drink in her hand.

"Sorry but you guys made theses rule. Not me. Besides, I think you guys had enough drinking for the day. I wouldn't be surprised if one of you keel over at any moment" Max answers, his shoulders shrugs as he lets out a small laugh, as he walks back to his table.

Cana scowls and looks at Makarov, who only shrugs in response. Finally Makarov notices Lucy and her team standing there and smiles widely.

"Ah Welcome back" he greets them, a cool mug still in his hand. "How did the mission go? Well i hope" Makarov asks.

"It went quite well, Master" Erza responds. "If you can destroying half a town well" Gray mutter to himself under his breath, thinking Erza wouldn't hear him at all.

"What was that Gray?" She inquires, glaring at him, her eyes sharp and telling him to thread carefully. Which cause shiver to run down both Lucy's and Gray's back.

"N-N-Nothing!" He stutters out a reply, fear shaking his entire shirtless body.

Wait

Shirtless?

"Gray...your _clothes_ " Lucy utters to him, her palm against her face in exasperation. She watch as Gray's face contorts into confusion and lets a gasp of surprise when he looks down at his shirtless chest.

"Dammit" he curses to himself as he grabs his shirt that lay on the ground and put it back on. Everyone sweat drops at the sight.

Makarov cant help but let out a loud chuckle.

"Well I'm glad came back, safe and sound"

"Master!"

Everyone turned at the sound of Mirajane's voice, as she runs towards them with a letter in her hand.

"The Magic Council sent you a letter. It seems important" Mira hold the letter tightly in her hand, letting out small pants of breathe from the run.

Oh no

What if that letter was about _them._

Lucy and Gray can't help but gulp in from the nerves that came with that thought but unlike them, Erza continued to keep her full composure.

Makarov sighs.

"Ok, Hand it over. Might as well get this over with" He utters, his hand stretched out for the letter.

As Mira hands over the letter, he begrudgingly opens the letter. As soon as his eye meet with the contents of the letter, his care free expression changed, his face suddenly stern and serious.

He read over it again before slowly placing the letter on the bars wooden counter. Everyone stand in silence. Makarov sighs, wiping his face with his pal, a habit he developed when he's stressed or is giving bad news.

For a few seconds, he sat in silence before looking at the team, eyes serious as he gazes at them.

"Gray, Lucy, Erza" he calls out their name, all of them unconsciously straightening up, waiting for him to continue. The whole guild in silence, sensing the serious and intense atmosphere in the air.

"I have a mission for you" he continues. They nod, everyone of them tense with nervous anticipation.

"The Magic Council have informed me that a group of dark guild wizards have infiltrated the Dukes of Reas on their way to our annual Spring Solstice and have captured their daughter, Lady Dian Rias". Everyone look at him in surprise. Sure, dark guild wizard are know for their crazy ideas and plan but this takes the cake. To kidnap a duchess is not only extremely wreak less, its an act against the royal bloodline, a challenge to them. Only the insane would have the audacity and stupidity to challenge them.

" From the description of the assailants, the leader of the group seems to be the wizard known as 'Salamander' "Makarov pause, the temperature of the room suddenly drops.

Lucy pales and stutters out an " Salamander, you the 'Salamander'!?"

Makarov stiffly nods.

Salamander.

The Salamander.

Everyone in all of Fiore have heard that name. Salamander. Known for his immense magic power, he destroys every thing in his wake. He magically appeared 6 years ago, creating havoc in the southern region of Fiore. Many wizards have tried to stop him but all were in vain, the wizard either disappeared or don't remember anything from their encounter with this mysterious wizard. And with no one ever knowing his real name, the Magic Council dubbed him with the code name "Salamander"

Even the Magic Council fear him, earning him a hefty bounty and a name in the dark guild circle.

"The Magic Council has asked us to retrieve the Duchess and if possible, capture 'Salamander'. I want to assign _you_ on this mission" Makarov continues on, his voice stiff but stern.

The team stay not once uttering a word, stunned into silence. They had no words. They couldn't believe this. They were assigned to not only fight but capture the one and only 'Salamander'.

After a minute of sheer tense silence, Erza speaks up.

" We understand. We will will go immediately"

Gray and Lucy look at her in surprise. " But Erza " Gray starts, " There's no way we're strong or experienced enough to take on this mission". Lucy can help but nod in agreement.

Erza turns her gaze towards them and her eyes filled with a bright flame of determination, flickering at its intensity.

"Look, I believe we may not be the best qualified for this mission but...If the master believes we can do this then we should trust in the masters judgement"

Gray and Lucy turn to look at each other for a minute before turning their gaze back to Erza, their eyes filled with the exact same determination as her.

They all start heading out of the guild, Makarov watching his children go and fight.

"Be safe, my children"

* * *

The sunlight gleams between the each beautiful and array of leaves from the large amount of trees, the occasional leaving rustled and flailing through the soft breeze of the forest.

And underneath sat 4 small figures, one standing out the most. The figure holds a magic hologram mobile, a soft buzz coming from it as it continues to function.

"Have you done it?" A small but baritoned voice echoes throughout the hologram. The hooded firgure nods.

"Excellent. I will see to it that you will be greatly rewarded as soon as you deliever the 'package'," he states, his voice satisfied as he finishes.

"Salamander"

Suddenly Salamander turns of the hologram and looks to his side. And there lies the a tied up tear stained Duchess.

Natsu looks at his fellow teamates before he started walking forwards,

"Time to go"

* * *

 **Well how was it? Plz comment and tell me what you thought**  
 **-Kurochan1**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Im so happy with the reviews i got from you guys. Sooo happy. I was so worried that know one would like my story. Thanks so much for the reviews again**.

 **New note:Hey Guys another rewrite for you here. Hope you like it and also if you guys have any new title for this fanfic...plz write it in the comments cause I really really _REALLY_ need a better one than the one I have now. Anyway hope you Enjoy XP**

* * *

Night covered the woodland like a sheet of darkness. A flickering light from the fire of the camp was the only source of light that protected them from the blackness that surrounded them. Sounds of grasshoppers, croaking in the shadows and the silence of predators lurking around for prey were heard throughout the forest along with the howling whisper coming from the clear breeze.

Natsu took it all in, the eerie yet calming sounds of the forest to the soft, still and comforting winds of the sky.

He looks up into the sky and watches the stars as they danced across the moonlit sky, the blinding light and illuminating power of the full moon, never breaching the canopy of the trees. The soft soil and greenery beneath his covered feet, the sound of water rushing down the stream in the distance, glittering and reflecting the beauty of the moon and forest.

Natsu always loved forests. It was always quiet and peaceful and only out here could you see the true beauty of the world. He was never able to see the stars when he was in the city. From since he was an infant, He couldn't help but thought the stars were watching over him, always there for him, guiding him. 'Such silly and childish thoughts' he thinks to himself.

He closes his eyes and breathes in the air as he sits in front of the fire they made keep them from the cold air of the forest. After successfully capturing the duchess they began making their way to the rendezvous point but as soon as they reported to Serid they decided it would be best to find a secluded area to set up camp in the forest, before it nightfall comes. Finding this small area, a secluded but spacious land, they all decided it was the best place to set up camp for the night.

"Oy Salamander!"

Natsu blinks, shaken out of his thoughts by the call of his 'name'. He lifts his gaze from the flickering flames of the camp fire, which he realised he opened his eyes in the first place, and sees his fellow teammates looking towards him, drinks in theirs

"Yo Salamander come on. Grab a drink and drink with us. You should be celebrating!" The red hair man shouts, who name was Nion or something, in glee.

The navy haired wizard, Kai or something was his name, beside him nods in agreement and he gulps down the cool beverage. Natsu looks at them unamused and goes back to looking at the fire.

He could sense the tinge of irritation seep through Nion, which Natsu couldn't help but actually be amused at.

Well this will be entertaining.

"Hey Salamander, I'm talking to you" Nion barks, who he now has nicknamed 'Hothead' in his mind. He look up again, making sure his face is expressionless, boring his eyes into his teammates.

"What the fuck is your trouble huh? Think your to much of a big shot to talk to us eh?!" Nion continues barking at him.

"No. I just prefer not to interact with idiots like you" He calmly replies, extremely satisfied when he watches the Hothead twist in disbelief rage.

"What ya say?!" He sneers,

"I don't wan't to interact with idiots like you" He repeat, in a completely calm manner.

Nion shoots up from the ground in fierce rage. "You think just because you're such a hot shot that you're better than us huh!? I bet all the rumours are all bullshit and your not as powerful as everyone thinks you are!" 'Hothead sneers.

"Heck we didn't even see you any magic. Bet those were all lies too. You're just some weakling that thinks he's better than all of us cause he's the masters pet" Natsu didn't care much for what 'Hothead' was saying -It wasn't like he hadn't heard it before- but he couldn't help but feel a twitch of rage when he called him the 'master's pet'.

Just as 'Hothead' was about to continue, he was cut off by the dark chuckle that escaped his mouth.

"Oh? Me, the 'master's pet'? Don't ya think you're projecting a bit there? ", his lips curl into a smug like smirk, Nion looks at him, utterly stunned while Natsu continues.

"I think if any was Master's little lap dog, bet ya be surprise that isn't me. What do you think this guild is? A geek club? A place were all you guys can hang out and drink till dawn? No, its a dark guild run by a master. A simple business. To him, Everyone is the master lap dog here. When he calls, you come. When he is angry at you, your put out to the doggy kennel. When he throws you a treat, you think you're more special than the rest of them"

Natsu rubs his bangs back as he coldly gazes at his 'team mates' before proceeds again.

"But you must really be an idiot if you ever think I'll bow down to him, boss or not. I'm not like you morons, I don't need some master to praise me or control me. And if your plan is to to continue to bore me with your idiocy, go play with some else, _Lassie_ "

Natsu gazes towards the dumb and dumber as their faces became red with fury.

"That's it ya _fu_ -" Nion stands up, about to move towards him, but Kai, apparently the smartest one of the duo, stretches out his arm across the man's chest, blocking him from moving forward.

"Nion, Calm down. He's just trying to rile you up" he insists. His gaze still on Natsu, low and threatening, or at least tried to be threatening. But Natsu meets his gaze with an equally bored look.

'Hothead' grits his teeth in frustration but after a few moments he backs down, forcibly relaxing his whole body, and sits down again, a new drink in hand.

He suddenly notices the young duchess staring at him, apparently watching their whole encounter moments ago but as soon as their gazes meet one another, she quickly looks away. But it 'Hot head' seems to notice too and he watches him stand up, a small smirking slowing forming on his lips, a drink still in his hand, and steps towards her, his boots crunching against the crispy grass and soil. Dumb follows dumber as they reach in front of the duchess.

As soon as they reach her, the duchess raises her fearful gazes towards them, panicked and terrified at what they are going to do. Natsu continues to watch as Nion's small smirk changes into a cocky and predatory smirk, seemingly satisfied by the duchess fear filled eyes, taking the up most pleasure for being the cause of it.

"Heya Princess, What wrong?" He asks, his voice tinged with mocked concern. He bends down to her eye level, forcible grabbing the corner of her chin, tipping it up to meet his cruel gaze. Still tied up, with restraints on her hand and ankles, she couldn't do anything to stop her frail form to shaking in fear but fails.

"Curious bitch aren't you?" he sneers, "Did dearest old daddy never teach you any manners?" he mocks, grabbing a fist full of her turquoise gown, pulling her up, closer to his curled sadistic grin.

Her eyes looking into 'Hotheads', slowly filing up with unshed tears. Nion's grin widens at the sight.

"What's this? Are you crying?" he asks, rhetorically.

He lets go of her gown, causing her to stagger, slightly unbalanced. He grabs her hair, brown like a beautiful whisk of falling leaves and smooth as the rain of first autumn and pulls it back, eliciting a cry of pain from her lips.

"How adorable. You're pathetic" He spits out. Kai snickers in agreement.

""You can't do anything can you, can you? Nothing without dearest daddy" He sneers in repulsing, like her presence alone was disgusting. The duchess held tears finally start to fall and pool out from eyes, staining her now wet cheeks.

Natsu watches Nion raise his hand only have one motive. That was the final straw for Natsu.

'That's it'

Before he could slap her, Natsu grabs hold of his wrist, stopping him in the process. The duo look at him in surprise.

"Stop it" he says. "We were told to deliver her unharmed". The 'Hothead' grunts as he forcibly tries to shake off Natsu firm grip, hoping he could let him go. He doesn't.

"Whats wrong with smacking her around a bit. Not like anyone will know" he grits out, his teeth clamped hard as he tries to still shake his hand out of Natsu's grip but freezes up when he senses Natsu magic presences. The duo frozen in slight fear, as Natsu looks at them both, cold and stern.

"Not on my watch. I was ordered to bring the 'merchandise' is good condition. I'm not going to let you to idiots cause any complications" he insisted. They both gulp in fear.

"So" he starts, his eyes turning dark and dangerous. "Instead of doing something stupid and reckless, go and guard the outskirts of the camp" he orders, finally letting go of Nion's hand.

'Hothead' nestle his now bruised hand with his other, rubbing the tightness of the skin away, and they both scurry out to the forest, doing as ordered.

When he senses that there far enough away, he scoffs in disgust.

Stupid bastards.

Finally gone, He turns back his attention to the maiden. Her eyes look at him with a mixture of confusion and terror. As he leans down down to her and slowly reaches out to her and watches as she shuts her eyes tightly and flinches away, tears still streaming down her face.

She was expecting to get hit. Natsu lets out a small sigh.

The duchess continues to shivers in from the fear and cold as she waits for the sharp pain.

But it does't come.

In fact she felt oddly... _warm_

She opens her eyes to see a blanket wrapped around her. She looks up at him in surprise.

Natsu notices and answers the question in her eyes. "It's very cold tonight...and you've been shivering this entire time, so I thought you'd want it" he explains.

She continues to gaze at him in surprise. He, her kidnapper, was _concerned._ Not alone her capture but _'Salamander'._

 _Salamander_ was _concerned_ of her well being.

This baffled her, leaving her even more confused but less weary of him. She mutters a small thank you as she snuggle against the warm fabric.

"No problem" he mumbles a reply and gets up onto his feet and walks over to the fire and places more firewood into the flames. They sat in silence, watching the flames of the fire flicker in the darkness of the forest.

"Are you Hungry?" Natsu asks quietly, so silent she looks towards him in confusion, obviously not hearing what he had asked.

"Hungry. Are you hungry?" Natsu asks again, earning a moment of silence before he watches her nod hesitantly. Natsu grabs his bag beside him and takes out a small loaf of bread and some soup had made for him for the road.

He walks back to her and offers them to her.

"Here"

She gazes flickers back and fort from him to the food and hesitantly she reaches out for them out but is top but the clank of her looks at them in annoyance.

Oh yea

The restraints

Natsu places the food onto the log beside him and he reaches out to grab his wrists but the duchess flinches away from them. "I'm not going to hurt you" he reassures her. He waits for a moment before trying again and thankfully this time she doesn't flinch away from him and he places his hands on the cuff and the suddenly snap open, which elicts a sharp gasp of surprise. She slowly touch the restraint and and carefully take off her cuffs.

"How did you-"

"Magic cuffs. They can only be opened by the person who placed them" he explains shortly as he reaches for the food again and places it in front of her.

She gratefully grabs them and takes a small hesitant bite into the fresh loaf. After a few seconds, she takes larger bit and starts to sips the soup. As she continues to eat. Natsu goes back to his bag and takes a piece of perfectly folded paper out and hold it in his palm.

When she finishes eating she can't help but wonder why he was being so... _kind?_

 _"Why are you being so nice to me?"_ she can't help but ask.

Natsu turns to her in slight surprise. Sure he knew she was curious about his motives by doing this but he didn't actually expect to out to blurt it out and actually _ask_.

He looks towards the darkness of the forest for a few second, debating an whether to tell her the truth or some half ass lie or just to _ignore_ her. But he decided that telling the truth the only way and then looks directly into her eyes.

"Because you don't deserve being here, in this situation I mean" he says. She looked into his eyes to see nothing but the truth. No lies, no tricks. Just the honest and genuine truth.

This can't help but be baffled by his statement. And that it was coming from her kidnapper, kidnapper leaves her confused and at a lost of words.

He slowly steps leans forward and reaches out for her hand. She looks at him confused before she feel the texture of smooth paper against the skin of her palm. She looks at this

He slowly leans towards her and reaches out for her hand. He sees her flinch."I'm not gonna hurt you" he reassures her. He takes her hand and gives her a piece of paper. She slowly opens the paper and looks at the paper in utter shock.

"This is-" but is unable to finish, her mouth dry. She looks up at him and she can see the determination in his eyes, face showing only seriousness.

"As soon as we meet with the client and we leave, give this to them as soon as possible, say its a a letter personally from the master of Pandora Gate guild. With this, you can't be owned or sold, preventing him to to sell u and he will set you free. When he lets you go, head east of here till you reach a small farm town. Go to an inn called the "Golden Locket". There will be two horse ready and a dark haired man with a scar on his cheek, at the entrance of inn. He's a good...friend, of mine and he will return you back home safely." He finishes.

"Keep that paper away from all eyes, especially to my ' _teamates_ '" he orders her.

He closes the palm of the hand and lets go off her hand. She looks at him baffled, at a loss of words, her mouth dry. After a minute she is finally able to find her words again.

"Wait why are your helping, you were the one who captured me in the first place. And do you even care about what happens to me?! You shouldn't! Yet your helping me escape! Why?!"she exclaims. She didn't understand.

Just why?

He once again looks directly into her eyes, his eyes soft and gentle than he would let anyone see.

"Like I told, you don't deserve to be in this position. You don't deserve to see how dark the world can be. I want you to live and see the beauty of the world, to live your life, instead of witnessing how ugly this world can be and be force to live in the darkness forever. I want to help you achieve your freedom and let you change your fate. Before its too late. To have freedom over your own destiny. And you deserve to have that chance."

Silence. The maiden was at a loss of words. How can this boy, so kind and gentle, can be the notorious 'Salamander'? From all the rumour that surrounds him, she had always thought of him to love making others suffer and wreck havoc where he see fit.

Not this _boy_

This _boy_ who wants to save her from her fate, this gentle and caring person. Tears streamed down her face. "Thank you, thank you" she continues to repeat, words couldn't express her gratitude except 'thank you'.

Suddenly a thought flashed through her mind and she quickly blurts out, "Can you tell me your name". She watches as he freezes on the spot.

"Huh?" he ask confused.

Why does she want to know his name.

She seemed to read his thought because she smile and answers his unheard question. "I would really want to know the real name, the person named 'Salamander', so I could always remember your kindness. So please? Can you tell your name, 'Salamander'?"

Natsu cant help but stare at her without any expression on face, all set and stone.

What should he do.

What if he tell her his real name and she tell the Magic Council his name. If they had his name, it would be easier to find him. He cant let that happen. But as he looks into her eye, they spoke nothing determination and honesty and he decided to tell her the truth.

"Natsu" he mutters quietly, that she didn't really catch it that first.

"Huh?"

"It's Natsu. Natsu Dragneel" he replies. She smiles to him

"Thank you... _Natsu"_

Suddenly, a bright light struck her eyes, blindly, and they both look at the sky. Sunrise is coming. It lit the land and the forest will a beautiful array colours of red, orange and yellow mixed with the still starry sky, mingling in a stunning mixture of night and day.

Morning has come.

* * *

Little did they know that his team mates where hiding in the shadows of the forest, witnessing the whole scene before their own eyes.

"That _**bastard**_ " Nion hisses in sheer fury. He knew he was right about Salamander. The little weakling was actually _helping_ the little bitch.

The bastard deserve to be dead.

Then suddenly, a brilliant idea struck him. He cruel smiles graced his lips, getting wider by the second.

Once they reach the rendezvous point, they kill em.

And no more Salamander

They both grin in anticipation. They gotta wait till the reach the rendezvous point till they can strike .

And then

Bye Bye little Salamander

* * *

 **Plz review/comment on what you thought about this chapter**

- **Kuro-chan**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys, it's Kuro-chan. Thanks so much for the review. They were so nice and gave me the determination to continue this so glad that you guys are liking the story. I'll try to upload every week if possible. Also, Im sorry that this chapter is so short but i promise that the next chapter will be a long chapter. Anyways I hope you enjoy todays chapter.**

 **New note: Hi another Rewrite, Hopefully this is my last rewrite for this whole fanfic and then I can finally start finishing my newest chapter. I still wanted to keep this short so dont expect a long winded chapter. Anyway hope you enjoy and please comment on what you thought of this chapter XD**

* * *

Erza can't help but let out a long sigh as she looks at the large 'X' marked on her map, debating on how much longer it will take to reach their destination.

"We're close" she relays to Lucy and Gray as they continue walking, a few feet behind her.

After they immediately left Fairy tail, her and the team sought out any information she could get, through simple rumours, or even superstitious and flimsy information on Salamander and his recent... _endeavours_ , and encounters in series of different bars and taverns.

Spending 22 hours scouring every place they could think finding any information, they finally found a small group of dark wizards -obviously from a smaller, lesser known dark guild- in a near by tavern, near the outskirts of Hargeon and Magnolia, picking a fight with the bartender and owner of the establishment. While they verbally assaulted them, they accidentally sprouting something about Salamander and the Duchess Reas, spiking the teams curiosity.

Finally a breakthrough, they couldn't help but think. Lucy and Gray stood there patiently as Erza immediately took action and stopped them from continuing on with their aggressive nature. She... _persuades_ them into _informing_ her about what they had said earlier. Persuaded enough, - _and definitely not because they feared for their owns-_ they told them about 'Salamanders' teammates were just in this bar earlier, bragging about their success in capturing the duchess, confirming the rumour for them and working alongside Salamander.

They also recklessly told them about where and when they would be their client, In a small open area of the Hylian forest, giving the team the exact co-ordinates of their fated transaction with the 'client'.

As soon as they got the co-ordinates, they headed out to Hylian forest. As soon as the reached the outskirts to the vast forest, dusk had came and after much debating , they decided to set up camp, being best to not delve into the vast woodlands until sunrise. After all. it would be foolishly reckless to venture inside, not aware of the creatures and forest bandits that may dwell in its grounds.

When sunrise came, painting the landscape in a canvas of orange and golden yellows, and the team had rested, they decide to talk about their plan of action and they should do when they encounter 'Salamander'. After much thought, Gray suggests 'Salamander' and his team may not be taking the main track to the reach to the rendezvous point but rather one or the more smaller and less used trails, like the one east of the forest.

This would give them great coverage and less chance of being found.

He also states that due to the smaller tracks being longer, they would have most likely have set up camp for the night, meaning they had enough time to catch up to them. He then suggests using another that connects to 'Salamander', earning them enough coverage and distance to not be caught, It would also be a great advantage from them, giving them the element of surprise as they attack.

Decided, they begin to venture out into the forest and continue on the small forest track, keeping their guard up along the way. The pathway was surrounded by series tall, beautiful trees that covered the skys view, light shimmering through the green and luscious leaves. The sound of birds chirping and rustling of leaves were the only sounds that resonated through the forest along with the soft warm breeze in the air.

They advanced on in silence, the team tense with nerves and anticipation.

After hours of silence, Lucy finally speaks up.

"Do you really think we can beat 'Salamander'?" she asks them, low and quiet. No one answers her for a few moments, until Gray rests a hand against her shoulder.

Lucy smiles and nods in gratitude and Erza can't help but smile along side here. But as soon

"I honestly don't know. But just like Erza said, Gramps believes in us to do this and he wouldn't have picked us for this mission if he didn't believe we were ready" He reassures her,

Lucy smiles and nods in gratitude and Erza can't help but smile along side here. But as soon as she smiles, it disappears and a determined look appears on her face.

"What's wrong?" she asks, all of as sudden nervous again.

"Does you sense them too" Gray asks Erza, looking ahead of the thin, dirt path, like there was something ahead

"Yea" she replies.

"There here"

As soon as she lets those words out, Lucy tense at the feel of three distinct magical presences, ones that definitely not her friends.

The slowly and silently threaded forward until the were in eye range of the fork where both paths met. They quietly hide behind the large trees and bushes, camouflaging themselves and blocking their magical aura, to hiding anyway for them to be discover by their enemies.

After a few moments they all heard the small sound of footsteps in the distance, and they tense in anticipation.

This was it

They freeze in silence, as the footsteps became louder every second, the heavily thumps against the soft earth. And finally the watch as four figures slowly came to view. There were three wizards. One was a large, tall red head that was draped in black clothing. The other, was smaller than the red headed one but undoubtedly taller than the man. He walked beside the other wizard but was holding a long chain that connected to Duchess' chains, dragging them against the ground.

From the looks of it, The Duchess seems to have no physical -or at least any visible- injuries. She had iron cuffs that restrained her hands, which connect to a long chain held by the blue haired wizard. She, thankfully, looked well considering what she has gone and currently going through.

Then there was _him._ Unlike, the others, This one wore less darker clothing which only made him stand out more than the rest of them, his short sleeved red jacket standing out like a flame in a dimly lit room.

But that wasn't all. As soon as Erza saw him, she couldn't feel the immense magical power in him. So strong and _destructive._

At that moment she realised who she was looking at.

She was looking at 'Salamander'

The _Salamander_

Erza couldn't help but gaze at the boy in disbelief. She wasn't at all expect this. She was expecting exactly what the rumours said about him. Tall, muscular man, giving the strong scent of death and sheer and immense destruction. Dead to the world and just as cold.

Not this young pink haired boy

But what struck her the most was his age. Even from one glimpse you could tell this boy was only a teenager. And he is exactly that.

A _boy_

He even looked younger than her, most likely around Gray's and Lucy's age. A teenager that you would casually stroll by on the streets, never once thinking he was the notorious and fear 'Salamander'. And this is a _boy,_ rumoured to be the strongest member in Pandora's Gate and beast that roams about the land causing only death and destruction. Rumoured to be as strong as even challenge one of the ten wizard saints.

Due to her surprise of seeing 'Salamander', Erza accidentally forgets to continuing on hiding her presence.

Crap

She tenses as 'Salamander' suddenly stops in his tracks, his whole body relaxed and calm. Erza quickly tries to hide her magical presence again, hoping and anticipating that he wouldn't have noticed her leak of magical presence from seconds ago. She continues to watch as the red haired wizard turns to look at him, finally noticing his sudden pause and looks at him in irritation.

"Oi" he calls out to him, the other wizard finally turns to look at him too.

"Why did ya stop?" he asks, irritated at the boy in front of him.

Sudden the team freeze as they felt a seep of magic pressure come from 'Salamander', his fellow guild mates take a step back in surprise and out of fear. Everyone is tense with fear and anticipation.

"Someone's following us" He responds. Erza and the team freeze in surprises.

"Well, more than one person" he clarifies, almost casually. Almost, as though it wasn't important to him.

The team watch as 'Salamander's' fellow team mates tenses up at his words and slowly look around the forest, trying to sense the presence of their followers, while he just slides his hands in his beige jean pockets. He looks ahead of him, his eyes looking ahead of the dirt pathway before looking directly in the direction they were hiding, his eye boring in them.

"Come out. I know you're there, so you might as well give up and show yourselves" he insists, his whole expression bored and unamused and his entire body cool and relaxed despite the situation.

Erza immediately takes action, swiftly sprinting out from behind the bush she hid behind moments ago and goes in to attacks 'Salamander'. But he doesn't even flinch as she raises her sword, that appeared in her hand, and simply dodges the strike like it was nothing, his hands still in his jean pockets.

He slowly lifts his gaze to her as a small amused smirk appears on his lips.

"Impulsive aren't we" he chuckles.

She quickly directs her to him, the tip close to his tanned neck, any slight movement could break into his skin .

"Salamander" Erza states, notices her team mates freezing in sheer shock at the discovery of 'Salamander'. They must've not expected just as much as she did.

"You are under arrest for the capture of Duchess Rias and for your other thousands acts of crime and villainy you have committed" She continues, her eyes flickering with strength and determination, not a hint of fear for the boy that stood in front of her.

She watches a Salamander smirks suddenly morphs into a cold, menacing grin, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.

"Let have some fun, shall we?"

* * *

 **Hey, kuro-chan01 here. So did you guys like it. I hope ya do. The battle has finally began. I can't wait to write the next chapter. Anyways, please comment on what you thought and I'll see ya next chapter.**

 **Kuro-chan01**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey another rewrite. I didn't bother to change the fight scene since I don't think I should change it. Anyways comment what you thought of this chapter! XD**

* * *

So tired

Natsu can't help but let out a long, lazy yawn as they continue to make their way to their rendezvous point. God he was tired. After his little chat with the duchess, his fellow ' _teammates_ ' came back to the camp a half and hour later and it became his turn to be on lookout for the rest of the night. Which also meant getting no sleep what so ever and watching the forest around him with mock interest and very real boredom and exhaustion.

Lucky bastards. Getting to sleep. Unfair.

When the sun rose. the immediately packed up and headed straight to the co-ordinates which will lead them to the client. The one who started all of this. This was it. When they meet this client, 'giving' him the duchess, than finally this stupid and boring mission will finally over. No more being Serid's temporary lap dog and definitely no more dealing with these two idiots he is forced to call 'teammates'. Only a true master of patience can deal with these infuriating morons.

But more importantly, once they leave the duchess has the chance to give the client the piece of paper and she will finally be free from this. No more fated future. Just simple freedom.

He slowly turns his gaze to the duchess as she slowly strolled behind dumb and dumber, her hands restricted with metal chains, ones he was forced to place back on before the idiot duo returned back to the camp, that connected to a long bulgy chain which rested in the palms of Kai, the smarter one of the two.

He slowly turns his gaze to the duchess as she slowly strolled behind dumb and dumber, her hands restricted with metal chains, ones he was forced to place back on before the idiot duo returned back to the camp, that connected to a long, heavy chain which rested in the palms of Kai, the smarter one of the two.

The duchess head hung down, her gaze directed at the dirt path they walked on, not daring to even lift here gaze for a second. If anyone looked carefully, they would notice a small glimpse of white in her right, clenched but heavily shaking, palm.

The piece of paper was her ticket out of a life of slavery and ownership to her and her rights. With that piece of paper, it will allow her to continue to live freely in the light instead of the shadows. She doesn't have to witness how dark world is and can be, like he has. Where there only exists violence, gore and the putrid smell of malevolence, death and destruction.

Fogged memories began to sweep into his mind. Memories of-

No

Natsu shakes his head slightly, try to physically push those memories away from his, placing them to the farthest part of his mind, never to be seen, never to be acknowledged. He won't allow it.

Suddenly, a strong and sudden wave of pressure appeared, a magical pressure. It was quite strong but before he could identify it more, it quickly slips away, a drumming sound of quiet in its place. He tries to sense any pressure that still waft the area but it continues to subside. Someone was obviously trying to hide their presence again.

Someone trying to hide their slip up eh?

Well this explains why his senses continued to blare out warnings since they began to walk towards on the dirt trail. But he couldn't find anything that would cause his instincts to flare up like they have. But even so he continued to keep up his guard. Now he finally got what he was looking for.

He stops in his tracks, using his heightened senses of smell, and tries to scent out the little sneaky rats that decide to follow them.

His watches his two guild mates turning around, obviously noticing his lack of moving, both staring at him, irritated. 'Hothead' steps towards him and looks at him with a sneer of annoyance.

"Oi why'd ya stop?" he hears him say, but he easily ignores him, too busy concentrating on his senses to play around with him.

Natsu carefully sniffs the area, a strong scent filled his nose, one he didn't recognise and blinks when realises that it wasn't the only unknown scent in the area. Two, no three scents.

Wow, their guild must be real cocky if they thinking three people can stopped them, let alone defeat them. How amusing.

"Someone is following us" he states, amused as the scents of their followers change, filled with the scent of tense anxiousness. "Well more than one person" he continues casually, keeping a calm facade on his face. Trying his best to not slight in amusement as his 'team mates' suddenly tense at his words and slowly look around, trying to sense their stalkers magical presences.

Their really are idiots if they think that the rats were stupid enough to actually not hide their magical presence.

Natsu slides his hands into his beige pocket on his jeans, pretending to lower guard as he continued to have a calm exterior. His purposely relaxes his body, hoping it would be enough bait to get them out of hiding.

After all, a target with no guard is a easy target to strike.

He looks ahead of him, directly ahead of the path, making himself more open for an attack. Come on, take the bait, he can't help but urge them in thoughts.

"Come out. I know you're there, so you might as well give up and show yourselves" he insists, his whole expression bored and bemused. Nothing, silence being his only response.

The silence continues to stretch out until he hears the small rustling of the bushes beside him and a figure with a raised sword in hand, ready to strike down on him. But doesn't even flinch as the blade strikes down as he dodged it with ease.

They caught the bait

Natsu can't help but smile as he looks up, and sees the figure become an armoured clad woman in it's place. Her hair, pure scarlet, portraying the colour of the sunset. Her maroon eyes showed the elegance of a noble but the ferocity and strength of a warrior.

He slowly lifts his gaze to her, can't help as a small amused smirk appears on his lips.

"Impulsive aren't we" he chuckles.

She quickly directs her to him, the tip close to his tanned neck, any slight movement could break into his skin .

"Salamander" she starts, her two teammates quickly come out from hiding and looks at him in shock. His own teammates stood their ground, their eyes only on the new two members that have arrived.

"You are under arrest for the capture of Duchess Rias and for your other thousands acts of crime and villainy you have committed" She continues, her eyes flickering with strength and determination, not a hint of fear and filled with such righteousness. He sense the immense of magical power that seeped through her body.

Well this is an interesting development, he couldn't help but muse to himself.

He could use sudden intrusion to his advantage actually. He will fight them, feigning his actual true ability and strength. Then after some witty remarks and slowly be ' _defeated_ ' by them, they retreat as they were too ' _strong' (Oh how he will coo in his 'defeat'),_ with the transaction unsuccessful and the duchess's saved either way.

Perfect.

Natsu can't help but be excited to see to fight against this female warrior, even if he won't be using his full power and ability. After all, the council may know that he uses some form of fire magic, but they don't know what type of fire magic and this warrior could inform them if he uses it.

And of course, he loves a good challenge. He always loved to fight strong wizards without the use of his dragon slayer magic, since it would be boring if the fight ended too quickly.

Natsu slowly smirks at her, his features showing his undeniable excitement .

"Lets have some fun, shall we?" He says, his smile becoming more dark and menacing as he gets into character.

He sees his two guild mates in fighting stance, looking almost as excited as he was, their expressions dark and feral, but the only difference is they weren't their expressions.

Without a second thoughts the scarlet warrior swings her swords chest, but Natsu averts the blow with ease. He then attacks her with a right round-house kick. She blocks with her sword but was pushes back due to his immense physical strength. She looks at him almost surprised by the boys strength. He may be young but doesn't mean he was weak.

Natsu then returns to a fighting stance, waiting patiently, diligently for scarlet mage to initiate a move. As soon as regain her composure, Natsu sees a second blade appear in her left hand.

Requip magic, huh.

Interesting

Natsu can't help but grin wider.

Without warning, she swiftly runs towards, her twins blades in hand as she diligently swipes towards his face. Natsu once again instinctively dodges but receive a cut on hid cheek as he dodges the blows. Natsu looks at her for a moment, blood seeping out of his injured cheek.

' _She hit me_ ', Natsu thinks, surprised. She was the first person to ever land a blow on him and succeed on injuring him, even if it was just a cut on the cheek, in such a short amount of time and with such ease.

Finally, someone who can fight him equally. Natsu then returns to a fighting stances, showing no openings for her to next attack. 'Let see how long she'll last'.

* * *

As Erza was fighting 'Salamander', who looked quite familiar to Lucy for some reason, her and Gray fought against the other two dark guild members. Menacing aura seeped through the atmosphere as the two coldly grinned at her and Gray, showing there violent instincts and excitement.

As She retrieve her keys from her waist, Gray lays his hands in the ground as spikes of ice penetrate up from the ground ."Ice Make Geyser".

Nion or Number 1, (since she didn't know there names, she decided to number them. Number was the red haired man how seems to hate Salamander,then the blue haired other is number two, who is Kai) quickly jumps out of the way.

As the spikes are close enough to injure Kai, he shouts "Rupture",his magical pressure rising. The grounds begins to shake, trembling the earths surface, which caused the spikes to shattered into pieces as the force of the quake.

'Sound magic' she thought instinctively. Sound magic is quite rare magic, since it is such a difficult ability to control and master. They have the ability to create earthquakes, manipulate the enemy's senses or with one punch, rupture most of your internal organs. This is gonna be tough.

Without hesitation, Nion, swiftly, sprints toward Gray, with lighting speed. The hangs his left hand out as an unusual black smoke or mist emanated from his palm. He threw the ball of dark mist toward the ground beneath Gray.

The ball of darkness then lands on the ground. The ball suddenly turns into an unusual shadow on the ground. The shadow begins to move on its own, slithering like a snake on the surface of the earth, coming closer and closer towards Gray.

The shadow then removes itself from the ground and splits in two as it attacks Gray."Gray!" She shouts, watching the raven haired taking the blow. Gray wobbles, almost losing his balance for a second, resting his hand where the blow was initiated. Too distracted by Gray's well being, Kai, begins casting a new spell.

Before fully reciting the incantation, Gray runs in front of him a swiftly created an icy blade and instantly strikes the man directly at his chest. The man staggers, blood oozing out of his wound, as he had trouble with just standing.

Lucy stretches out her hand with Virgos key tight in her grip. "Open Gates of the Maiden Virgo" she enchants as the celestial spirit morphs itself into Earthworld. When she fully materialised she immediately stood in front of Lucy in order to protect her precious mage.

"Did you need assistance,princess?" the celestial maid asks. Nion immediately charges at the new enemy his hand absorbed in a white aura and tries to strike Virgo at the heart, but the maid suddenly digs under the ground to avoid the shot.

The dark mage stood there, his body tense, as he concentrates on his surrounding, waiting for the spirit to come back up from the ground. But he was caught of guard when he felt a pair of hand grab under him, and pulls his feet into the ground.

Virgo then reappears from the ground as he tries to break his legs from the now closed up ground that surrounds his feet. He tries to use a sonic vibration spell but the celestial mage have threaded magic in the surrounding soil, making it impossible to break free using his magic. He curses under his breath.

Too distracted by his own situation, he didn't notice Kai hurdled towards his direction and landed in front of him. Said man was a wreak, his face bruised and light cuts riddled his body, and a his clothes covered with dirt and blood.

Kai and Nion look in front of them to see Gray walking towards them, not even breaking a sweat.

What the hell is with these wizards.

There...there _Monsters_ just like Salamander!' they both thought in panic.

How are they going to beat these Monsters!?

* * *

Natsu smirks as he looks at the mage before him, her scarlet hair slightly dishevelled as her expression showed only irritation and fury.

Well he doesn't blame her since all he has been doing the whole fight is dodge everyone one of her attacks and have been poking her with a stick that he found nearby whenever she showed an opening.

Natsu can't help but internally laugh at her irritation at such teasing, but he continued to use his smug ' poker face'. He is actually surprised by the woman's skills.

Although this women seems to be very strong mage, from her immense magic power seeping through her, she is very skilled in hand in hand, or right now sword and hand, fighting. She seems to have great experience with strong fighters and would always be on top...that is until she met him of course.

Natsu looks at her with the worlds smuggest smile in the history of Fiore and Earthland. "Awww whats wrong Red, a little annoyed?" he teases. If looks could kill he would be looooong gone.

"Salamander! Fight me or I'll cut you into pieces" she shouts as she she attempts to hit him with her sword again, which he dodges for the millionth time today.

" Aw but is much funnier than fighting you", he smirks," And I think you a hundred years too early to fight me".

Erza looks at him with such anger at his words. What is with this kid!?

She decided to requip her flight armour and swiftly side sprints to Natsu's left and tries to kick his left side, but is blocked by the stick still in Natsu's hand.

" Oh that's new", Salamander mutters." Your quite a fighter miss Red" he utters.

Erza clenches her teeth, her anger rising to its peak." I said FIGHT ME SALAMANDER" she shouts in unadulterated rage.

She requips her dual blades and runs toward. She her blades in a uppercut motion and watches as salamander elegantly back flips away from the strike.

He looks at her and notices part of his short was cut by the attack and scowls at her. Now his favourite shirt is ruined !?

He looks back at the mage before him, her eyes were seething with anger...Maybe its best to comply to her request.

"Ok Red, you got your request, Now-", he positions himself into a offensive fighting position, " Come at me".

Erza is caught out by the action, obviously not expecting him to take such actions so suddenly but gladly complies as she send a strong roundhouse kick toward his head.

She was then even more caught out when he drop that annoying stick on the ground and instantly grabs her foot with his once occupied hand.

In a blink of an eye he crouches and swings his right leg toward her free one, effectively tripping her. . But catching Natsu by surprised when she effectively used her free leg to forcefully kick him across the face. Natsu stumbles on his feet from the impact.

He smiles at Erza and cant help but show his shock and excitement when the scarlet mage, now dubbed as 'Red' by Natsu, finally strikes him.

He then gladly jumps towards her with an uppercut kick, making her leg go of one of her swords, that were still in hand. She dodges to the right and uses her other dual blade to swipe at his leg. But Natsu being too fast,he steps back and effectively kicks her blade out of her hand once again.

She curses. He was able to make her weaponless. She changes her out of her flight armour and into her usual armour. She want to win but she wants to win fair and square.

Natsu smiles.

" Aw, you wanna be fair? You're going to regret that" he says, voicing only extreme confidants. Of course this ended up angering the scarlet mage and she wings a left hook towards his stomach but he dodge and he tries to kick her in the chest. But he is blocked by Erza, as she shield the area before Natsu had impacted.

He then throws an upper swing and hits her under the chin. She stumbles on her feet but recovers quickly. Erza jumps to the side when she notices 'Salamander' trying to punch her one again.

This parrying continue back and fort for at least five minutes, until Erza was able to trip Natsu and he falls to the ground. He gives an inaudible yelp of surprise and when he looks up from the ground he sees Erza in front of him, with a blade pointed at his chest.

"Surrender, 'Salamander'", the scarlet mage, try hard to mask her excitement in defeating him, but unable to do so.

Before Natsu could even speak or do anything...he her the duchess scream for him.

"SALAMANDER!"

Then there was a sudden sharp pain and he felt his conscious drift to darkness as he continued to hear the duchess cry out for him.

 **Two minutes before**

Kai and Nion both look at their enemies before as they stood there, thinking they have won the battle. What foolish fairies, if only they knew that they had something up their sleeves. Kai quickly gives a glance to 'Salamander' watching as the arrogant fool has been pinned by by that Scarlet fairy.

This was the perfect time to do it.

To kill Salamander and use him as a decoy to escape.

They both give each other a quick glance, nodding to one another. Lucy looks at them, knowing that something is going to happen.

Just as she thought. Kai uses his shadows to sink both him and his partner into the ground by merging with the shadows.

The fairy tail mages tense, trying to pinpoint their magical presence, but were immediately caught off guard when the see what their about to do.

They saw Kai and Nion both merged their magic, into a union ray and shot at...Salamander!

They smiled when say him give a cry of pain and fall to the ground, unconscious.

The fairy tail Mages looked at them in shock. They just shot their own teammate! Weren't they comrades!?

They watched as the Duchess, who was on the sideline during the fights cry out 'Salamander's' name...as if in fear of his safety!?

Because of the shock, they momentarily forgot about the dark mages and quickly turned their gaze to them when they remembered they were still their, only to see them be veiled in a cloak of darkness.

Gray runs towards them trying to grabbed them but was too late, as the fazed trough the solid ground and their presences disappeared.

Gray curses under his breath.

Unable to do much with the situation, they freed the Duchess and were shocked to see her dashes towards the fallen pink haired boy. She grabbed the boy and lay his head on her lap, as she checks if he was dead. She let out sigh of relief as she hears him letting out small breaths.

Good, he was just unconscious. She looks at her saviours, who only gaped at her in shock. I guess their shock is understandable, since she was relieved that one of her captures is alive.

"Help him please, You have to help him. I'm begging you", She begs, no, pleads them, which only shocked them even more.

"..W..Why are you, isn't he one who captured you!?" Gray asks, completely shocked at the duchesses actions. She looks at the ice mage as a tear escapes her eyes.

"Please...save him", that's all she said.

Erza was the first to shake out of her shock and quickly leans down toward the boy and examines his wounds." Lucy get the health kit from my luggage and give my the disinfective so we can clean up his wounds", she asks.

She then turns to Gray." Gray, call Mira and tell her that we have completed the mission and have also captured 'Salamander ' as well. Tel her to prepare a spare from him to be confined in so we could interrogate him". Gray and Lucy nod and went to do what was asked of them.

Erza looks at the salmon haired boy, as he continues to sleep in peace. Erza sighs.

She hopes she doesn't regret this in the future.

* * *

 **Hey plz comment your thoughts on this chapter XD**


	6. Chapter 6

**HEEEYYYYAAAAAA! Kuro-chan01 here. Just wanna apologise by how longer this took. I was kinda on holidays with my family and was stuck in a place with no electricity or wifi XP. Anyways I'm back now so I thought I would also update the story real quick since I already had it finished before i left.**

 **IMPORTANT NOTE: I Had lots of trouble updating this chapter because some pieces of the story disappeared so if you see a big plot hole or an unfinished sentence or paragraph, please inform so I can fix it.**

 **Anyways as Always please review and enjoy~**

* * *

Makarov sat in his seat, his eyes closed, as Erza continued to report of the event that has occurred. She told him everything the battle, 'Salamander', the dark mages, their escape and their capture of 'Salmander'. She also relayed to him that they had safely brought her back to her father and had been given their reward.

When she finished her report to the master, he opened on her eyes to look at her. "And the boy?" he asks.

"In the chambers downstairs, Mira is there currently watching over the boy", she replies. He nods and looks at the scarlet girl in front of him. She seemed troubled by something .

"Erza, is their something else you would like to discuss me me? You seemed troubled by something, my dear" he says, surprising Erza.

Erza momentarily thought on whether she should to tell him whats been on her mind. She didn't want to bother the master with her thoughts, he was too busy with dealing with the magic council and keeping the guild intact...but if she told the master, he might be able to show _this_ in a different light.

She looks at the master, his eyes showed passion and patience, as he waited for her to speak. She sighs and begins to speak.

"I've been...confused by something", she pauses. "Go on", Makarov urges. "Well its about the boy, 'Salamander'. He's just...not what I expected to be. From the rumours I was expecting a A cold merciless dark mage that finds pleasure in hurting others and destruction...and not a teenage boy." She sighs as she runs her hand through her hair,

"...When I fought him, he seemed to be...holding back. I don't whether to fight me without magic or because he didn't want to hurt me. The boy is a complete enigma to me...and I just...I don't know whether not telling the council about him was the right decision and i guess...I just don't think this boy is really as bad as the rumours say" she she, almost sounding as though her last statement was more a question than a statement.

Makarov looks at her with complete understanding and places a hand on his chin." I see...Is there a reason why you think he is?" he asks, hinting that he knows that there is more to her conclusion of the boy.

Erza gives a confused scowl at the mere memory that flashed before her mind.

 **Flashback**

 _At the front of the Reas mansion_

 _Erza smiles as she watches the Duchess Dian run and hug her father tightly, as he wrapped her arms around, he doe he was afraid she would disappear again. She continue watching them as her mother ran out the door and saw her missing daughter, with tear filled eyes. And sweetly watches as the mother join in their hug, completely in their own, filled with love and relief._

 _After a minute, the family parted and the Duck mouthed a silent 'Thank you'. Then one of the maids gave them a smile of gratitude as she gave them their reward._

 _Smiling contently, the Fairy Tail mages walked to their carriage_ (which was giving by the duchess mother as thanks) _and were about to leave when they say the duchess herself, running towards them_.

 _When she finally reached them, she let out a panted breath. " I wanted to thank Fairy tail for saving me. We are in your deep gratitude. If you need assistants in the future, we would gladly aid you if need be", she smiles. Gray gives her a wave of appreciation. " Its no problem Duchess, we were just doing our job", he says._

 _"If its alright, may I give you an unofficial request?", she asks piquing the mages interest. Erza nods at her to continue. Her sweet and happy expression suddenly turned serious , surprising the team._

 _" I would like you to tell 'Salamander' as message for me." the team tense at the mention of the pink haired boy, who was still laying unconscious in the back of the carriage_ ( who was also tied up just in case he woke up on the way back to the guild).

 _She sighs before she began to speak again. " Please tell him. 'Thank you Salamander for everything you did, although it turned out I was still saved by the Fairy tail guild. I promise I will continue living and I will live it to the fullest. I will not let the darkness of this world take me. I will never forget your kindness for the rest of my days" she recites smiling._

 _"...'Also I think you name really suits you. Your light shines its across the land and gives warmth to the dark world. It really suits'" she teases._

 _The mages look at her confused, especially with the last statement. He was her capture wasn't he..so why?_

 _Why is she thanking him?_

 _" Duchess, can I ask, What are thanking him for? He was one of your kidnappers right?" he asks._

 _She looks at him with an expression he was unable to describe. She then gives him a small smile._

 _"Because he was willing to save me at the cost of his mission. He gave me a chance to escape and a way to escape. He gave me a way out...a way to escape from the fate I was being forced even when it cost him so much by helping me. But because of you and your team we didn't need the plan anymore. Why do you think he didn't use his magic? Because he was feigning weakness. He was going to pretend to lose to you and retreat, leaving me safely in your hands. "_

 _Shocked was an understatement, to describe the team. They were gaping at her, completely stunned by her her words.. He was..he was not kidnapping her...he was saving her all along._

 _But why?_

 _He was 'Salamander',notorious for his destruction and black heart. He was one of Fiores darkest mages._

 _So why?_

 _As though she their mind, she said,"...I don't think he is the man they say he is in the rumours...So please just..just save him, don't take him to the council. That's all I ask of you"_

 _She looked at them with pleading eyes. The team sat their in silence unable to speak until after a moment of utter silence , Erza spoke._

 _" We still need to interrogating him before we would even consider giving him to the council. So don't worry, miss. You wont see him in the councils hand any time soon._

 _The duchess smiled and gave them her thanks and with that_ _they left_

End flashback

Makarov looks at her as she finishes tell her story. His eyes, hid an unknown element in them, but disappears as quick as it came.

'Interesting' he thought to himself. From what he heard, Erza may be right about him. The moment he saw the boy, when they dragged him into the guild hall, he know their was something special about him.

He knows from just feeling his magical presence that the boy was not evil. After all, your magic is a way to view a mages true being and soul.

"Erza, You may be right about the boy. He is way more than what the council and ourselves have thought him to be. That why I want you to talk to him once he is awake. Try and get any information from him" he orders, which Erza nodded.

She then thanked the master for listening and left his office. When she left he sighs deeply, think of all she had told him. Its best to keep the boy in their hands and not to the idiot council. They would just give him life in prison without even acknowledging the teen being just that, _a teen._

But hiding the boy here will be hard, sooner of later the army will find him. What can he do?

...That when a crazy idea light up in his mind. Oh this is definitely going to work.

* * *

The guild was loud with the usual fighting and chit-chatter, as Erza walked down the stairs. She had just finished talking to the master had lifted a bit of weight off from her chest. But she still couldn't feel the confusion and anxiety weighing on her chest.

That boy,' Salamander'. Is he really not as bad as the rumours around him say he is. If so, why was he working under a dark guild like Hells Gate. And why do the rumours make him out be a heartless soulless beast that feeds on destruction the the suffering of others.

But if he really that bad, why would he try to save the Duchess. Why was he willing to risk his safety for a girl he didn't know?

And worse, what if the magic council found out about him. I mean, their are practically housing one of Fiores most wanted wizard. What will happen if they do find out? What will they do to him? What will happen to the guild. And were they really doing the right thing, not telling them?

Erza shakes her hand, try to shake those unwanted questions away, fully knowing that they can't be answered. She looks around the guild and sees Gray, Lucy, Wendy and Carla.

She walked towards their table, grasping that Gray and Lucy were tell her of their little pink haired friend down in the chambers.

But the suddenly stopped talking as they notice her walking towards them and sat closer, to give her space to sit down with them, which she gladly took.

Gray and Lucy looked at her as they saw an unreadable expression on her face. "So what did Gramps say?" Gray asked. Erza sighs before answering," We decided to keep 'Salamander' here and thought it was best to not report him to the magic council. We will interrogate the boy as soon as he is conscious . Mira is currently watching the boy" she reviewed briefly without much detail, but enough for them to be satisfied.

They all nod at her. "But is it a good idea not to tell the magic council. I mean...won't we get in trouble if they found out?" Lucy asks. They all know that if they are caught by the council, there is the chance of punishment or worse...disbandment.

Erza sighs. "I don't know Lucy. But the master has decide not to tell the council and we respect his decision" lucy nods slightly at Erza response, knowing full well that she can trust in the masters decisions.

Then Elfman came over, who was substituting Mira for a while( since she was too busying watching their little pink haired 'guest'), holding a tray of drinks and a plate of strawberry cake.

"Here I thought I'd bring you some cake, seeing as your a little bit down", he says soothingly as he handed the plate of strawberry cake to Erza. Although Elfman may be a strong bulky man, he has always been sweet and thoughtful towards others, always trying to cheered people up in the simplest ways. Just like his sisters.

Erza smiled in gratitude as she gladly took the plate and beginning to take a bit into the strawberry paradise. She crooned in delight as the white luscious cream melted in her mouth, as everyone just sweat dropped at the sight.

Erza's love for strawberry cake never seizes to surprise them. That's why no one ever tries to cross Erza when it comes to the sweet strawberry treat, _especially_ when she eaten.

As soon as Elfman left, Erza looked up from the piece of creamy heaven, when she notices Lucy in deep thought. "Lucy, are you alright?" she asked curiously. It was odd to see the bubbly and cheerful so quiet.

Lucy looks up in surprised, from hearing her name and look at Erza's curious yet worried expression on her face. Lucy smiles at her concern but her expression quickly turned back to its deep thoughtful state."Yea, I'm fine. Its just...that guy. I think I meet him before" she says, her voice filled with confusion and uncertainty.

Gray looks at her questioningly." That guy? You mean 'Salamander'" He asks." Yea, its just...I don't know. He seems so familiar for some reason...Like i met him before. But I can't seem to remember" she replies, voicing her frustration as she played with the ends of her hair.

Gray places a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry you might remember him when he wakes up" he reassures her, causing her to give him a small smile.

Wendy looks at Carla, her exceed friend, in worry. " Hey Gray?" she says, grasping Gray's attention. "You said that he looked around the same age as you and Lucy right?" she asks, getting a nod in confirmation.

"If he is so young...why would he work in a place like a dark guild?" she reflects, surprising Erza. The boy was very young, presumable the similar ages to the mages on this table. But how and more importantly _why_ would a dark guild willing to let a young boy join their rank?. And whats more, why was he willing to join a dark guild?

Gray looks briefly at Erza's pondering face and turns back to see Wendy with the same expression. "I don't know Wendy" he replies, stiffly

"I just don't know"

* * *

 **Meanwhile at Hells Gate guild**

Serid was definitely not in a good mood this morning.

Especially when he looks at the two battered mages before him, stammering and stumbling to inform him that they not only lost their target because of a bunch of goodie too shoes fairies, but his pet and prodigy 'Salamander' was captured by said fairies. And of course to put a cherry on top of this cake of disaster, his pet was the reason the mission failed, trying to _save_ his _target_.

He glared at the two mages in a cold fury, as they cowered in front of him, theirs gaze both on the floor, to afraid to look directly at him.

"So, you're telling me that my best wizard had tried to escape with the target and was taken by Fairy tail, who ambushed you on your way to the rendezvous. And all you do _WAS RUN LIKE LITTLE_ **_COWARDS_**!?"

They both flinch in fear as they feel a tinge of magic seeps from their master and quickly stammer and ramble an explanation.

"There wasn't anything we could do, Master! Salamander had back stabbed us half way through the fight. He sided with those fairies! But we were able to stop him from escaping with that bitch but was taken by those rotten no good fairies" Kai explains, all in one breath.

"We had very little options and they only thing we could do was esca-"

" YOU HAVE FAILED A MISSION AND RAN LIKE COWARDS!?" he cuts in, in a fit of rage.

" _GIVE ME ONE GODDAMN REASON WHY I SHOULDN'T **END** **YOUR PITIFUL EXISTENCE RIGHT NOW** ! _ "

Both the mages quivers and shiver in fear as they watch their master become more and more enraged. Shion lets out a small and pitiful whimper in fear as Kai just shivers, frozen in terror.

He groans as he drags his hand threw his silver hair, in a way to calm his anger. He couldn't believe that that pink haired brat would have the guts to betray him like that. And after all he's done for the kid.

And this is the thanks he gets!?

What worse is the brat couldn't even defend himself against a couple of Fairy scum. Most likely those damn fairies are going to give him to the council to be investigated and he most likely will tell them useful information about his guild whereabouts and details of his mission.

He curses under his breath. Because of this, he lost a valuable pawn. And in such a pitiful way.

 _There only one thing he can do when a pawn becomes a nuisance._

He grabs a book filled with all the guild members joining pledges and name. Its a requirement for each new recruiting member are to say a pledge, stating their name at the beginning. He remembered when Salamander or should he say Natsu was required to tell his true name, he was extremely reluctant to do so. But after much convincing, he grudgingly done so. He looks and finds 'Salamander's' name and placed his hand on the name, a small growing light slowly appearing beneath his palm. They light slowly become more and more blinding when he began to speak.

"Salamander, I hereby expel you from the Pandora Gate and revoke " he chants as he watches his name disappear from the book.

 _Throw them away_

Little did they know that a certain small figure stood behind the door, hearing every word.

* * *

 **Well thats chapter 6, please tell me what you thought of it and I will see when I see ya**

 **-Kuro-chan01**


	7. Authors Note

Hey guys, sorry this isn't a chapter update but I wanted to tell you guys that I've just update and rewritten all the previous chapters. So please go check them out and as usual tell my your thoughts on them (Criticism definitely appreciated). I'm currently working on the latest two chapters and hopefully ill have them out to you guys soon.

I also wanted to write this author note to ask for suggestion on a new title for this fanfic. I really hate this title and my brain can't think of any better ones XD

So If you have any suggestions please either write em in the comments or pm me PLEASE XD

Anyways as always, hope to see ya soon with a new chapter ready

-Kuro-chan01


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey Finally I have finished this chapter. I actually had done a few days ago I just forgot to publish it XP**

 **Opps!**

 **Anyways I Hope you Like it and please tell me what you thought of this chapter XD**

* * *

Erza was angry

She stabbed the strawberry cake withe her fork mercilessly as she devoured the sweet piece of heaven in fury.

It was rare for her to ever be angry.

Ok maybe that was not _entirely true,_ but she would ever so rarely be angry at the master. She spent the entire night, trying to figure out the masters motive behind all of this, but no matter how much she thought about it, it never made sense.

So here she is, angry and tired for the lack of sleep and **STILL** **DOESN'T** **KNOW WHAT THE MASTERS MOTIVES ARE!**

She sighs grudgingly as she eats the last piece of her fifth strawberry cake, of this morning.

She easily ignores the loud chatter and merry laughter of all the mages in the room, with a few rowdy and playful fights here and there, just like any other day.

She tries not to think about the young _boy_ , currently unconscious in the basement. Its been over two days since they rescued the duchess and captured Salamander and the boy was still unconscious. That boy...That boy was _different_ than what she was expecting. And shes not speaking about his lanky but fit body or his pink hair. No, she meant his eyes.

Every mercenary, dirty thieves and dark wizard was just like she thought they would be. Dirty, selfish and just as _evil._ But this dark wizard, this _boy_. There's just something... _different_.

Erza is startled out of her thought when she heard someone speaking.

"Erza? Hey you okay? You seem out of it"

She looks up to see Lucy hovering over her, her expression filled with curiosity and worry. Erza sighs as Lucy takes the seat in front of her and sits down.

"Nothing" she answers, picking another piece of her cake and slowly and munched on its strawberry delight. Lucy looks at her, obviously not believe her but doesn't press on. "He, have you seen Wendy here, I haven't seen her at all today" Lucy asks as she gazes around the guild hall for the young indigo haired girl. Erza eats the last piece of her strawberry cake before looking up, her eyes filled with slight exhaustion from all her thoughts.

"Wendy went on a small mission with Gajeel, Levi and Lily. Its only a small, simple mission on the outskirts of Magnolia. They said they'll most likely be back later today"

Lucy sighs in relief which makes Erza curious. As though Lucy could read her mind Lucy replies, " I was hoping to give her that book i got her, back in Hargeon" she groans. "I guess I can just wait till she gets back"

"You haven't given it to her already?"

"No I was kinda wrapped up with all the stuff that's been happening later and I just forgot. I only remembered when I saw it on my desk before coming to the guild" She sighs, the silence began to ebb between them, their thoughts once again pulled back to the mage in the downstairs chambers.

"Hey Erza, you finished with that?" Both girls look up in surprise to see Gray standing there, with a tray in hand and wearing his black jeans and a white waist apron.

"Gray what are you doing?" Lucy asks curiously as Erza nods at him and gracefully hands him the now empty plate. Gray carefully places the plate onto his tray before replying.

"Elfman is still subbing in for Mira and he just went out to get some supplies and run some errands. He asked me to keep an eye out for the bar and do some work since I did some work here before one summer" He explains.

"Oh" Lucy mutters. "Mira is still on watch duty still? There's no one shes taking turns with?" Lucy questions.

"Well Gramps said it would be best for just Mira to watch him till morning to noon and then he would take night watch for her. I don't know why he wont let some take the afternoon shift though. But its Gramp's call. He is the master after all"

"Has he woken up yet?" Lucy asks. Gray sighs and shakes his head gently. "No. Mira said he's still out cold" he replies. Erza looks down at the wooden table in a daze and sighs. "Well there's nothing we can do until he wakes up. We just have to be patience and wait for him to wake up and then we can finally get some answers" she remarks.

Gray and Lucy turn to Erza and nod in agreement but suddenly jumped in surprise at the a booming female screams out their name. They jump slightly in surprise and turn behind them to see Mirajane run towards them. "Mira?" Gray mutters in surprise as Mira finally reaches to their table. "Whats wrong. Is everything ok?" Gray asks in worry.

"Did something happen with Salamander. Why aren't you watching him" he continues to ask. Mira looks towards the whole group.

"Salamander. He's awake"

They look at her in surprise before they turn their gaze to one another and silently nod at one another, like they were having some silent conversation with one another. Erza and Lucy immediately stand up from their seats and Gray shouts towards to Macao's and Wakaba's table. "Hey Macao. Mind the bar for me will ya?" He asks while he quickly takes of that white apron that lay on his waist.

Macao just raises his mug up in acknowledgement. "Also Wakaba, tell Gramps that Salamander has woken up and we're gone to question him" he adds. Wakaba looks up at him in slightly surprised confusion but nods anyways and they watched as he slowly makes his way to the stairs which lead to the Masters office.

They all began to sprint to the basement of the Fairy Tail guild, preparing for their meeting with Salamander.

This is it

Time to actually met Salamander and get their questions answered

* * *

 _ **Five minutes earlier**_

Natsu woke up in a daze. His consciousness, slightly slipping between dream and reality. His body felt like little needles covered his entire being. He felt horrible. The world was like it was spinning twice as fast. And his pulsating headache doesn't help much with that.

Natsu hisses as he opens his eyes, the light stinging into his eyeballs and closes them in pain. Ugh why was it so bright. Natsu groans in annoyance before he hesitantly and slowly opens his eyes again, take every moment for them to adjust, sighing in relief once his eyes finally focused and adjusted to see a rather dark and mangy room.

The room, to put in one word, was...desolate.

Dust covered bookshelves surrounded the small and obviously once used room, each filled and packed with old journals and documents. From the left of him was a lone wooden desk and chair, suggesting this room was once used in the past but not for a long time, considering the once pristine desk was veiled with heavy dust.

The room was dimly lit, the only source of light was the lighting that shone from outside of the room, each ray breaking trough the cracks and open bars of the wooden door in front of him.

Now fully awake, he finally realised that he was chained to the back wall of the room. That when he also noticed something else.

He sensed nothing.

He feels nothing.

He couldn't feel his magic.

He obviously pissed a certain person or people off...but how? And how did he get stuck in this mangy room in the first place? He closes his eyes, trying to resurface any memory of his current situation, so hard that his face turned turned different shades of red at the attempt.

Just when he decided that he should stop his headache becoming worse than it already was, small flashes of images passed through his shrouded memory, ones that he couldn't interpret.

He closes his eyes again, which he didn't realised he opened, and tried to focus on them.

Sired, Quest? Kidnap the Duchess of Rien? A forest?

A fairy...symbol?

 _Scarlet hair_

And that's when it clicked. It felt as do a dam has broken, his memory flowing freely through his mind.

He remembers.

He remembers the master asking him to return to the guild. He remembers the mission to kidnap the duke of Rien's daughter and to take her to the client at Hylian forest.

He remembers successfully kidnapping her during her way with( _...what were their names again?...Lai and Kion? Maybe Mai and Eion?...oh whatever the hell they were called)_ and were assigned to transport her to their client personally within a few days.

He remembers feeling sympathetic towards the duchess, her impending future cutting too close to his past, and the strong feeling to save her from her forced destiny. He remembers trying to help her escape and _telling her his_ _ **real**_ _name?!_

No alias, no fake name... _his real name._

Even now , he still doesn't understand why he told her. Sure she asked, but he could've just lied on the spot and give her a fake name.

But he didn't

Maybe it was duchess honesty that made him or it could've been from the grateful yet desperate look in her eyes, he doesn't know. He just hopes that this reckless choice wont come and bite him back in the near future.

Another memory flashed into his mind...the ambush. Yes, the ambush. He remembers being ambushed by those fairy guild mages and battling that scarlet mage.

He remembers a sudden sharp pain then... darkness.

He didn't need to figure out what had happened, it was obvious as day is to night.

But he never expected them to stoop so low as to fire a killing blow when he wasn't paying attention.

...

Ok, maybe there are that low of scum to stoop that low.

God, he must have been working with them for _way_ too long if his judgement has been changed to the point of recklessness and stupidity to actually think that.

 _'But I guess that's what happens when you work with dark mages for too long huh'_ He thought bitterly.

He presumed after they turned tail and ran like he cowards they are,(he scoffs in thought), he was most likely captured by these fairy wizards.

' _Crap'_ he cursed to himself. What was going to happen now ?

Before the panic could set into his body, he hears the door creak open above the stone covered floor, and gasp from the figure that opened the door.

He lifts up his head to see and young woman frozen with a tray filled with bandages and some food, presumably for him. Her eyes shined a beautiful ocean blue was accompanied by white flowing hair that rested on her lower back, her fringe tied up with a small bobbin of sorts.

From her looks, he guessed she was no older than 18. It kinda hard to tell considering she's looking at him like she saw a ghost. He watched silently as she (quite dramatically, he silently thought) dropped the tray in her hand and looked at him in a mixture of shocked and surprise, like she wasn't expecting him to be awake. Come to think of it , how long has it been asleep, if you can actually called injured to the point of unconsciousness, sleeping, then yeah. Her mouth open like a gaping fish. A thick silence began to stretch, to the point where it became slightly deafening.

That was...different.

Honestly, he wasn't expecting that. Sure, he's used to the occasional glares and looks of spite and arrogance from his fellow members. And of course, it was an everyday thing to see a person gazing at him with such frozen terror and fear. He is Salamander after all, it comes with the reputation.

But a girl running away by his sheer presence alone, was kinda new.

So lost in thought, Natsu flinched at the sound of clattering footsteps ahead of him. From the smell of it, there were a small group, but some scents that were present seemed somehow...familiar.

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, preparing for the impending encounter. He needs to put his walls and guard up. He can't falter.

He raises his gaze as the group open the wooden door, the hinges creaking from the movement. He watches bored as the group of wizards step inside the dingy little chamber. He watches the ivory haired girl that left earlier, stand by the door and he finally notices the three other wizards where present. The wizards he encounter in Hylian forest no less.

Raven, Goldilocks and Red

Oh how he missed them so

"Red, good to see ya" he greets in mock excitement. "What did I owe to be blessed by your presence" he asks, his voices tinged with such sarcasm, which only earns him a glare and scowls in return.

But the scarlet woman remains a mask of indifference. But the raven haired boy on her left seems to have reacted to his words, but is slowly calmed by the . Must be a follower or something. Natsu internally scoffs at the thought.

A tense silence filled the room, slowly stretching as they all continue to gaze at him until Red looks at him, her head raising up high and strung and takes a small step forward.

"Salamander" she starts, "Why did you capture the duchess of Rian" she demands, her voice stern and commanding.

Interrogating him?

Are they serious?

Doing the magic councils job for them before handing him over.

Natsu looks at them in boredom and disappointment. Just when he thought things were getting interesting they just expect him, an _enemy_ , tell the about information on his mission and his guild.

 _Fucking Fairies_

They really are _naive idiots_

"Why did you capture the Duchess of Rien?" she repeats, more forcibly, as though she was hoping that would get him talking. But he continues to remain silent, his eyes dull and bored.

They continued on,

"Who were your teammates?"

"Did your master assign to this mission?"

"Or was this whole operation by your own accord?"

"Who was the client?"

"Why did your client want the Duchess"

But Natsu continued to remain silent, drowning out all the questions and words she spoke, and watched gradually as they slowly became more and more frustrated by the lack of answering.

Q. 46 must have been been the breaking point because Red and the raven boy were aggressively take a step towards him, ready to lash out, their expressions contorted by their rage and sheer annoyance. But before they had the chance though, Goldilocks and the white haired girl from earlier stop them, place their hands on their shoulder, which magically calmed them down.

"Erza, calm down" she urges "Getting angry isn't going get you anywhere". They both continue to stare down at him until the break the contact by turning their gaze to the ground. They both took as small deep breath and stepped back to the entrance again.

Natsu watched this in boredom as they continued to calm themselves and once again collect their composure before turn their gaze at him again. He kept his face levelled and bored as the locked eyes with him, a tense silence slowly filling the room. They lock eyes, staring down at one another, like a fight of strength between two beasts, a fight of power and dominance.

But the intense stare down was suddenly cut short as Red turns around, slowly and calmly making her way to the door they came in through. She pauses for a second, not turning around, her back still against him and speaks.

"We will be keeping you under our custody until you're willing comply to our questions. You will be here, in this room, till then unless the master orders us to be more persuasive. Till then we will come back and I would advise you to reconsider doing this silent treatment of yours. For your sake" she threatened him

Threatening him huh? He thought she wouldn't have the guts for that.

But even so Natsu wasn't affected by her words and stares at her in silence.

He watches as she walked out if the room, each armoured foot clanking against the floor, the rest of them soon following but not before staring at him for a moment, theirs eyes conveying a series of different emotions but was outdone by their looks of confusion, before leaving.

As soon as Natsu heard the door creak closed he waited till he could hear them return back to upstairs and when he hears the door creak shut he lets out a small sigh of relief.

Well that was fun

Finally alone he could finally have some time to ponder on his situation. So they want to interrogate him, he gets that part. But what he doesnt get is why they won't let the magic council and military do it for them. Why do they want to?

And what was this guild master even thinking. Does he even realise what trouble he will get into without reporting this to the council immediately. He must be an idiot to let this happen.

But Natsu knows that he isn't. Makarov, one of the seven saints. He wouldn't have got that title if he was truly some idiotic master.

Their was more to this than he knows.

Natsu moves slightly in discomfort which causes him to wince in pain at the sharp stinging pain that flared up in his side. Dammit. That stupid Hothead. He still can't believe that idiot was able to actually get him. Natsu looks down at his chest.

No external bleeding. Consider the unbearable heated pain coming from his lower chest, he guessed he must've broken at let a rib or two and there's a good chance that he could be internally bleeding.

Great

He was actually slightly surprise that he feels pretty well considering he could be bleeding out his insides, let alone be conscious. But from the soft fabric he feels wrapped on his stomach and waist, he cold guess that it wasn't just because of his natural fast healing body.

He wasn't an idiot. He could guess that Red and their followers were the ones to place that bandage there.

They must have gave him some minor medical attention considering that he only had a lone flimsy bandage and nothing more. Obviously they don't know the real extent of his injuries or they just didn't care.

Doesn't really matter though. All that matters now trying to figure out

Natsu sees something catch his eyes and looks at his dirtied and slightly torn clothes and directs his gaze towards his now open and barren right shoulder.

His Guild mark

Its gone

His once black guild mark that owned his upper shoulder was now just empty, plain and normal, almost like it was never there in the first place. Natsu can't help but let out a small dark and cold chuckle.

Thrown away now is he?

Must've decide to throw him away after failing the mission. But even as he looked at his now barren shoulder, he can't help but be not one bit surprised.

After all who would want to keep a blunt tool thats lost its use.

Well its doesn't matter. He never really like that stupid guild anyways. Once he gets out of here, he can just join some other dark guild. After all, who would wanna turn down have Salamander in their guild.

Speaking of getting out of here...

Natsu sighs. How the hell was he going to get away from this stupid place?

He shakes his head, trying to physically banish his stray thoughts. He needed to focus, get back to the task at hand.

Operation The Great Escape begins

...

...

Ok so he named his escape plan, so sue him for being creative

This would be easier if he didn't have these stupid damn anti-magic cuffs on. He needs to find something to get these damn cuffs off him. Natsu looks around the room carefully, trying to find something, _anything_ , that he could use. Something small that he pick the lock with...

Natsu blinks at the thought. Hesitantly, he moves his right foot and shakes it slightly and can't help but smile at the clinking sound inside his boot. He completely forgot about the small hunting knife in his boots. Good thing he brought it with him as a precaution. Thank god he listened to Happy.

All he needs to do now is get the thin knife from his boot and somehow get it into one of his hand so can pick the lock.

Well, this makes escaping a _lot_ easier

Natsu cant help grin gleefully

Its show time

* * *

 **I was going to continue this on but i decided to separate it to another chapter. Anyways, Hope you like it! Please tell me what u thought about this chapter and Ill see you guys soon with a new chap XD**

 **-Kurochan01**


End file.
